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What proportion of Australian school students aged 12-17 years regularly use pharmaceutical drugs?

Among Australian school students aged 12-17 years, 73% regularly use analgesics (for either medical or non-medical purposes).

Source: Cancer Council Victoria (2018). ASSAD 2017 Statistics & Trends: Australian secondary school students' use of tobacco, alcohol, over-the-counter drugs, and illicit substances. (NECTA secondary analysis, 2019).

Please note: This FAQ uses data from the Australian Secondary Students’ Alcohol and Drug Survey, which defines the pharmaceutical drugs referred to in this question as: the medical or non-medical use of analgesics (defined as: pain-killers/analgesics such as ‘Disprin®’, ‘Panadol®’ or ‘Nurofen®’).

Regular Analgesic Use: Regular analgesic use refers to using an analgesic drug 10 or more times in the past year. ASSAD does not differentiate use of analgesics for medical or non-medical purposes.